I bought a fairphone 3+ thinking I would acquire a powerful phone (considering the price it should be the case) and which would last a long time thanks to the easy repairs.
Unfortunately there are too many faults:
_ the GPS is slow and inaccurate
_ 2/3 of my apps work badly and crash regularly (France culture, Clash royal, Bank …)
_ some apps don’t work at all (Waze …)
_ 40 € for the plastic shell (it’s the only one that holds, the fairphone having a unique template)
_ the system is slow and often buggy
_ the restart is slow and is often taken twice to restart
In short, Fairphone is clearly a business oriented company more than sustainability and if you want to be “ethical”:
!! repair your old phone or buy used !!
There are enough pointers here in the forum to other cases tailor-made for the Fairphone 3/3+ which apparently are doing a good job. But they aren’t cheap, too, it’s a niche market.
Fairphone’s case additionally has been reported to widen over time by several users, which isn’t ideal, to say the least, especially when considering the price (but Fairphone will exchange them on warranty).
Mine isn’t.
Can’t confirm.
In short … you just have to love anecdotal evidence to draw grand conclusions from. It works so well … not.
Perhaps we can help to get your phone in order.
Which OS and OS version are you running currently?
Have you already tried a factory reset?
If you happen to have Fairphone Angels in the vicinity (see communitymap), they might be able to have a look at things in person.
Sounds to me as though your phone has problems, indeed, but most of them don’t, as far as I know, so it’s maybe a bit hasty to draw such conclusions just from a single case
Now that you’re here, why not take advantage of the community’s substantial group experience and knowledge to sort out your problems and enjoy using your phone for as long as possible ?
One thing’s certain, Fairphone is extremely rare in extending the support (hardware and soft) to such lengths. Doesn’t sound like the attitude of the big players. But you’re right, buying second-hand is a partial alternative at least as regards e-waste, though not necessarily on the source materials side. And of course buying fairly new used phones is also encouraging their first owners to change more often … Not really what we want either.
I bought a FP because the old phone was irreparable. If it had been a FP I could have replaced the screen no problem !
I am really sad to read that your disappointed with the device, and sorry to witness such aggressive post that clearly doesn’t represent most of users feedback around here… you have the right to be disappointed, but your statements are presented as a general truth which is not accurate.
The fact that you seem to be french as I am, shames me even more, as it enforces the stereotypical images of ranting person we are often associated with.
EDIT: Just noticed this appears to be a reply to @OldRoutard, which it is not. Must have clicked on the reply button to their post not the general reply. Apologies to the red squirrel.
To the topic creator
Hi I wonder if you have such a downer on the Fairphone if you will bother reading the replies that follow?
If you do I empathise, but may just be a bad setup, hence the previous comments.
The case and cost are unusually disturbing but I bought one
My phone works fine, but in your vein, my daughter gave up and I now have two
🤸
Another daughter has ordered the FP4, we’ll see how that pans out.
Whereas I wouldn’t recomend the FP range to anyone I would defer from outright saying not to buy.
It’s arguably one of only two Fair Trade phones on the market and maybe the better of the two: If fairtrade is more important than your comfort then there is little option. If you get a Shiftphone and are happier, let us know.
And I have no problem with the FP3 after 15 months
I wonder if you would have registered on a Samsung forum and leave a rant about not to buy Samsung after receiving a maybe faulty device.
But @GIF, in case you are interested in getting help with your phone, this forum is a welcoming place. Or you could at least contact Fairphone’s support, which you didn’t even do, if I understand your post correctly.
did you read any reviews before you bought it? I knew I was getting a mid-range phone and I’ve been happy with it. Your description of your experience doesn’t match mine. If you think your phone is faulty, you could contact the shop you bought it from.
Yeah read a bit about them, was honestly hesitant whether to buy a fairphone or a shiftphone since they were proposing high end devices.
Ended up choosing fairphone for its active community and english friendly resources.
Shiftphone seems like an exclusively “German” thing to me. And couldn’t really find user feedback, guides anywhere.
I’m writting from the Fairphone4 now. I’ve had FP2 and FP 3 (which I upgraded to FP3+ when cameras came Up) and worker perfectly. 99’9% of my apps (bank, remote connection, teleworking vía meet or zoom etc…) Worked perfectly. These phones are perfectly functional and multi tasking works smooth; even you can run them with OS like E or Sailfish and furthermore, you’re adding your little sand Piece to make electronics industry fairer by owning It.
The Fairphone 3+ is mid-range, definitely not “a powerful phone” by what most people consider that. Especially your note “considering the price it should be the case” I disagree with, most phones are too cheap for what they are because they would rather hang up suicide nets at the factories than pay the workers a fair wage.
I can’t confirm any of this, I’ve been using my Fairphone 3 for years. Send it back for repairs, you clearly got a broken unit, this isn’t normal.
Every business is a business. And uhm, yes, Fairphone says this themselves: the most environmentally-friendly phone is the one you already have. Repair is always the best option.
But yeah, contact customer support. I’m sure they’ll replace the device. Yours is clearly broken.
Hello,
I am using Android 10, but had the same issues on Android 9 …
No, I didn’t do a factory reset, how can I do it without losing data?
What are “Fairphone angels”?
Hello,
Indeed this message is a little vehement, but after more than a year of use and updates which did not help anything, I often rave about having put more than 600 € (accessories included) in a new telephone which does not. not working properly …
